Costa Cruises

One of the first things people ask me about any cruise line is about the drinks package. And Costa is no different.

If anything, it’s even more important with Costa because they charge you for all drinks – including water! Yep, that’s right, you can’t even get tap water with a meal without paying extra.

What makes things worse is that the drinks packages aren’t explained well on the website, and I think I know why…

Costa Cruises has many different drink packages that they don’t tell you about

If you book your Costa Cruise online, you’ll be shown a number of options. The first is to book a basic ‘My Cruise’ fare, which includes full board, port taxes and all entertainment.

The second is to book a ‘Comfort Plus’ fare, which includes all the benefits of My Cruise plus a My Drinks beverage package allowing you to have access to unlimited coffee, beers, aperitifs, cocktails, a selection of the best spirits and a selection of wines by the glass.

The third is a ‘Super Comfort Plus’ rate, which includes all of the above plus a ‘My Explorations’ excursion package.

If you book a suite fare, it automatically includes a ‘My Drinks Plus’ package as part of the Comfort Plus Suite fare. This is an upgraded version of ‘My Drinks’ and includes premium labels and consumption of minibar drinks, bottled water and beers. 

Similarly, you can upgrade to ‘Super Comfort Plus Suite’, which includes a ‘My Explorations Plus’ package with excursions of your choice from the entire catalogue.

If you’re booking an Inside, Ocean view or Balcony stateroom, then the price to upgrade to Comfort Plus is around £30 per person, per night (prices will be shown in your local currency).

If you don’t fancy upgrading at the time of booking, after you book, you’ll be able to log into MyCosta, where you’ll see more drinks package options. These include soft drinks packages, water packages and beer packages, to name a few. They are priced in Euros, but they work out to be the same price.

So, let’s take a look at each of Costa Cruises’ drink packages, so you can decide which is for you…

Costa Cruises Drink Package Prices

As well as these options, which give you an unlimited number of drinks each day, Costa Cruises has some more drinks packages that give you a certain number of drinks to enjoy throughout your cruise, such as 20 beers or 5 glasses of wine.

Now, let’s take a closer look at each of the packages so you can decide which is the best for you…

1. My Drinks Plus

This drinks package is included in the price of a suite , or can be added in ‘My Costa’ after booking for around €48 Per Night

Costa Cruises’ top drinks package includes pretty much everything you could want. You’ll get unlimited hot and cold drinks, bottled water, soft drinks, fruit juices, premium cocktails, glasses of wine and prestigious brands of liquor.

The My Drinks Plus package also includes access to your minibar – if you have one, not all cabins do.

There are some limitations, even with this premium package. You can use it almost everywhere on the ship, but not in the Archipelago or Casanova speciality restaurants. This applies to all of the other packages, too.

The beers mentioned on the website are only draught Heineken and bottled Corona and Becks. There is no mention of other beers in the package, so watch out there. You may wish to check with the bartender before ordering.

I expect that some of the more expensive wines and spirits won’t be included. The Costa Cruises website doesn’t give any details, so if you have expensive tastes, this package may not be for you.

2. My Drinks

This is the drinks package that’s included if you upgrade to the Comfort Plus fare, however, it can also be added in ‘My Costa’ after booking and costs around €35 Per Night.

This package is slightly cheaper and has a few more limitations. But, it’s a good value drink package if you like to drink alcoholic drinks but don’t want to spend too much.

Firstly, when it comes to water, you can get unlimited water by the glass, but only one 500ml bottle per person, per day. So you may wish to save this to take on your excursions or to have by your bed.

You don’t get any fruit juice included in this package. Bottled beers are off the cards too, so draught Heineken may be your only beer option.

Cocktails are limited to ‘classic’ cocktails like mojitos. You’ll have to check the menu to see which ones you can have. 

And the premium spirits aren’t included either, so you’ll have to stick to house brands.

Lastly, the My Drinks package doesn’t cover anything in your mini bar.

So, while this drink package seems like a good deal, it could be annoying if you have to always check if your drink is included. I don’t like the stress of that on a cruise, particularly if it isn’t obvious from the menu. So I’d probably avoid this package for that reason.

My Drinks Vs. My Drinks Plus

This table shows what’s included in each package:-

3. My Soft Drinks

This package can be added after booking your cruise and costs around €23 Per Night.

If you don’t drink a lot of alcohol, then the My Soft Drinks package could be for you.

This package includes a selection of non-alcoholic beverages like water, coffee, herbal teas, hot chocolate, iced teas, fruit juices, soft drinks by the glass, Crodino and classic non-alcoholic cocktails.

Again, the website doesn’t specify what’s not included. I suspect that canned soft drinks won’t be, and as there’s no mention of milkshakes and smoothies, they may not be either.

4. 100% Alcohol-Free (40 beverages)

Again, this package can be added after booking your cruise and costs around €135.

With this package, and the next ones, you’ll pay a set fee to enjoy a limited number of drinks over the course of your cruise. 

So, for €135 you’ll get 40 non-alcoholic drinks like fruit juices, cold teas, cordials, and non-alcoholic long drinks.

That works out at €3.38 per drink. Most soft drinks cost €3.70, and some are cheaper at just €3.10 fruit juice or herbal tea, so it’s not exactly a great deal. Plus, water is cheaper still, so it won’t help you with your drinking water bill.

The good thing about this package is that you can split it between as many people as you like. This might sound handy if you have a lot of kids, for example.

But it also has its pitfalls – you might worry that if one person buys the package, but the other person goes to the bar, then the drinks won’t be assigned to the account with the package.

So for those reasons, I’d definitely avoid this one.

5. 100% Alcohol-Free (20 beverages)

This package can be added after booking your cruise and costs around €79.

This is similar to the 40 drink package, but just for 20 drinks, making it more suitable for shorter cruises.

However, this makes the cost of drinks now €3.95, so it’s virtually impossible to break even.

This package may seem like a good idea, but in reality, I can’t see how it makes sense for anyone to buy it. Unless, of course, they haven’t done their research, which you have – so good on you.

6. Classic Package

This package can be added after booking your cruise and costs around €155.

Costa Cruises’ Classic Package includes 7 bottles of water, 3 bottles of red wine and 3 bottles of white wine.

This seems perfect for a couple on a 7-night cruise who like to share a bottle of wine and a bottle of water over dinner each evening.

But is it worth it?

Well, each 1-litre bottle of water costs €3.50, each bottle of house white wine costs €25.50 and each bottle of house red costs €38.

So the total cost of the drinks if you bought them individually would be €215. 

You’re therefore saving €60.

That’s not a bad saving, if you would have purchased those drinks anyway. If you don’t like those particular wines or don’t always want a bottle, then it could make it feel a bit restrictive.

7. Draught Beers

This package can be added after booking your cruise and costs around €105.

Costa Cruises’ beer package entitles you to twenty beers during your cruise. You’re allowed to share it with as many people as you like.

The beers are 40cl draught Heineken (that’s about ¾ of a pint each).

So, is it a good deal for beer drinkers?

Well, each beer costs €4.80 when purchased individually. So 20 beers would cost you €96. That’s less than the package price!

According to Costa Cruises, a 15% service charge is added to all drinks bills, so when you factor that in you’d pay €110.

Still, it’s definitely not worth getting the package and powering through 20 beers to save yourself 25 cents on each one. Avoid.

8. Water, Coffee & Beer Package

This package can be added after booking your cruise and costs around €89.

This next package includes 7 bottles of water (1-litre), 7 draught beers (40cl) and 14 coffees (espresso or decaf) for €89.

So on a 7-night cruise, you could enjoy a morning coffee, an afternoon beer, water with dinner and a coffee afterwards each day. Sounds nice, right?

Let’s do the maths on that to work out the savings…

• Water: 7 x €3.50
• Beer: 7 x €4.80
• Coffee: 14 x €2.20

Total = €88.90

It’s almost exactly the same price! Of course, there’s the 15% service charge to factor in, but still, it’s hardly a bargain. Especially when you consider that sometimes you might want a fancier coffee, or a wine instead of a beer.

9. Bottled Mineral Water Package

This package can be added after booking your cruise and costs around €42.

If you hate the idea of having to pay for water with meals, then you may be thinking about Costa Cruises’ bottled water package.

This package gives you 13 bottles of water (1-litre each). You can enjoy these during meals, at any time on board, or you can take them off the ship on your excursions.

At €3.50 each, 13 bottles will cost you €45.50. So really, what you’re getting is buy 12, get one free with this deal.

10.  Super Vitamin Package

This package can be added after booking your cruise and costs around €33.

If you love freshly squeezed fruit juice every day, then this isn’t a bad deal. You’re getting 7 drinks for the price of 5. So if you know you’re going to drink a lot of these, then this could be a handy package to buy in advance to save a few Euros.

Note, these are the prices for my cruise on Costa Smeralda. They may vary slightly for different cruises, so be sure to check your own My Costa cruise planner for accurate prices.

Things To Know About Costa Cruises Drink Packages

Before you go ahead and buy your package, there are a few things you should know.

1. Every Guest Must Have A Package

Everyone sharing a cabin or on the same reservation number must have the same package. (Only for the unlimited drinks packages, not for the set number of drinks ones.)

This includes children aged 4 and up. Of course, under-18s can’t have any alcoholic drinks, so if you upgrade to Comfort Plus, children will get unlimited soft drinks and fruit juices. This package is free for those under 18 if purchased while booking the cruise. On the contrary, if you buy it on board, it will cost €18 per day for every child.

2. You Should Buy Your Package Before Your Cruise

Just as with most cruise lines, with Costa Cruises, if you wait until you’re on the ship to buy your drinks package, you’ll end up paying more for it.

Ideally, wait until after you book to log into My Costa and you’ll see the greatest choice of packages.

3. You Can Get Free Water In The buffet

The buffet isn’t open all the time, but when it is, you may wish to fill up on the free water.

Refilling your own water bottle from the water machine in the buffet isn’t very hygienic, as the rim of your used bottle could accidentally touch the water spout.

However, if you pour yourself glasses of water and then carefully decant them into your own bottle, there should be no issues.

I’d suggest doing this at breakfast time so that you have water to take with you on your excursions.

4. Some Drinks Are Free At Breakfast

If you want to make the most of free drinks, breakfast is the time to do it. Either in the main dining room or the buffet, you’ll find a selection of fruit juices, tea, coffee, hot chocolate, water, milk and plant milks (if you ask for them).

5. The Drinks On Costa Cruises Are Pretty Cheap

You may decide that, as the drinks are so reasonably priced, you may not need a drink package. I find them to be similar to a standard pub or restaurant on land.

Here are some example drinks prices:

• Cocktails – €5.70 – €10.30
• Mocktails – €6.70 – €7.30
• Sprit & mixer – €7.80 – €12.40
• Glass of wine – €5.70 – €10.30
• Large draught beer – €6.10
• Bottled beer – €4
• Soft drinks = €3.70
• Energy drinks – €4.70
• Fruit juices – €3.10 – 5.70
• Bottled water – €3.50 (litre) or €2.20 (500ml)
• Glass of water – €1
• Coffee – €2.20 – €6.70

However, one thing to be aware of if you pay as you go is that there will be a 15% service charge added to the cost of individual drinks, paybale at the end of your cruise.

Final Word

So, is the drinks package really worth it on a Costa Cruise?

When I booked my cruise on Costa Smeralda, I chose not to get the drink package. At €35 per day, the My Drinks package is pretty reasonable and cheaper than most other cruise lines. But then, the drinks are pretty reasonable too.

I’ll be taking a refillable bottle to enjoy water from the buffet, and will also be making the most of the free tea and coffee there. Of course, I’ll still have a glass of wine with dinner and maybe a couple of cocktails throughout the day. But with a port-intensive itinerary, I think it would be hard to break even on a drink package unless you’re drinking six or seven drinks per day.

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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

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